PSIA Ratifies IP Media Device API 1.0 Specification

Mar 18, 2009

The Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA), an industry organization created to define, recommend and promote standards for IP-enabled security devices and systems, announced recently that its 1.0 IP Media Device API specification has been ratified by the organization and released for public use.

The 1.0 specification is available free of charge and can be viewed at http://www.psialliance.org. PSIA also announced plans for its first developers meeting to be held at ISC West on March 31.

"The ratification of this 1.0 specification demonstrates how eager companies are to work together to create open standards for the physical security industry," said Rob Hile, chairman of the PSIA and vice president, business development of Adesta LLC. "In one year since the PSIA began, nearly 40 companies have joined the organization to participate in the process of advancing the IP Media Device API specification. Meeting this important milestone is even more noteworthy because of the significant support and collaboration of various industry vendors."

The 1.0 version of the Media Device API specification has been reviewed by technical experts from a broad group of companies that represent the critical segments of the IP video market.

These companies include video management software providers, camera manufacturers, analytics software providers, network video recorder manufacturers and security solution integrators. This broad cross-section brought a diverse set of views and provided a well-rounded perspective that supports all industry segments. Interested parties from these industry segments can be assured that their particular requirements were discussed in the context of refining the specification.

According to Pelco Director of Integration Dave deLisser, Pelco is committed to supporting open standards for the security industry in order to foster better customer and end-user solutions.

“We see the release of the IP Media Device API Specification as a big step toward real interoperability between products,” deLisser said. “This standard has been well designed and is the result of contributions from many different manufacturers. We have been impressed with the process PSIA used to create this standard and we're excited about the opportunity it brings to the market.”

On March 31 in conjunction with ISC West, the first PSIA developers meeting will be held at 1 p.m. at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

During the meeting, discussions will be held about the PSIA road map from the chairmen of the following working groups: IP Video, Analytics, Recording and Content Management, and Area Control.

"The lack of standardization has been one of the key barriers to the diffusion of IP network cameras to date," said Danny Petkevich, video surveillance and imaging business manager for Texas Instruments. "We see the PSIA 1.0 specification as a way to enable simpler installation, similar to that of analog cameras today, but with the feature richness provided by IP cameras."

PSIA is committed to offering open specifications and has generated significant interest and support in the physical security industry. More than 400 companies have registered for the initial specification since its release in September.